Connectivity is in some ways THE issue as far as what printers are compatible with PalmPrint. PalmPrint can print to printers via infrared (IrDA), Bluetooth, serial, or parallel connectivity; printers in each category are listed below. If you have a PalmOS handheld device with infrared (every one sold for the last several years), and an IrDA printer, you're all set. Otherwise, read our complete discussion of connectivity issues.

Infrared Printers

Printer Comments 8 1/2" x 11" Printers Canon BJC-50 Portable, battery operated. Only single-sheet (i.e., manual feed of new pages). Discontinued. Canon BJC-55 Portable, battery operated (added a USB port as compared to the -50) Only single-sheet (i.e., manual feed of new pages). Canon i70 Portable, battery operated, less expensive than the BJC-55, and very fast printing. Drawback is that the only built-in font is Courier, so no support for Times and Helvetica (compared to the BJC-55). Also features direct printing from some Canon digital cameras Canon i80 Portable, battery operated. Drawback is that the only built-in font is Courier 12-point, so no support for Times and Helvetica (compared to the BJC-55) or varied font sizes. Bluetooth optional. Canon ip90 Portable, battery operated. Drawback is that the only built-in font is Courier 12-point, so no support for Times and Helvetica (compared to the BJC-55) or varied font sizes. Bluetooth optional. Also features direct printing from some Canon digital cameras Canon ip100 NOT SUPPORTED. This printer is a bitmap only printer, which is not supported for Canon printers by PalmPrint. Canon BJC-80 Optional battery pack. Discontinued. Canon BJC-85 Optional battery pack. Added a USB port as compared to the -80. Citizen PN-60i Very small and light, battery operated. Uses a ribbon to print on regular paper. Only single-sheet (i.e., manual feed of new pages). Rather slow but functional. Hewlett Packard LaserJet 5P Must test. Some of them are compatible with the Palm's IR, some not. Discontinued model. Hewlett Packard LaserJet 6P Discontinued model, but works excellently with the Palm. Hewlett Packard LaserJet 2100 Works excellently with the Palm Hewlett Packard PhotoSmart 1215/1218 Note: the earlier models, P1000 and P1100, do NOT work as they are not standard IrDA printers. Hewlett Packard DeskJet 340 Portable, battery operated. Heavier than the Canon BJC-50/55, but includes a sheet feeder. Infrared is optional (a small add-on hardware "dongle"). Discontinued model. Hewlett Packard DeskJet 350 Portable, battery operated. Heavier than the Canon BJC-50/55, but includes a sheet feeder. Infrared is optional (a small add-on hardware "dongle"). "New and improved" (slightly faster) than the 340 it replaced. Hewlett Packard DeskJet 450cbi Portable, battery operated. Infrared (standard) and Bluetooth (optional) Hewlett Packard DeskJet 990Cse   O'Neil 8i Impact printer, allows up to 4-ply paper for multiple copies. Requires "computer paper" (the kind with perforated holes along the sides). Designed for portability, encased in ABS plastic and drop-proof. Runs off rechargeable battery, car battery, or wall power. Printing somewhat slow (as expected for an impact printer). Serial input as well as IR. Pentax PocketJet 3 (and previous model, PocketJet 200) Very small and light, battery operated. Requires thermal paper, available either in sheets (8 1/2 x 11") or as in rolls with an optional roll feeder for dashboard mounting. Serial input as well as IR (optional). Smaller Width Printers Brother MPrint MW-100 Paper is 3" wide, 4" long, sheet fed from an easily-installed 50-sheet cardboard cassette. Very fast and nice quality output. Bluetooth version available soon (if not already by the time you read this). Printer dimensions are 4" wide, 6" long, and less than an inch high. Uses an internal rechargeable battery. Citizen PD-04 4" width, thermal paper. Hard to find; may be discontinued. Serial input as well as IR. Extech MST IV 4" width, thermal paper. Extech 3500 4" wide, thermal paper O'Neil 4t, 4i, 2t 4" width (4t, 4i), 2" width (2t). 4t and 2t are thermal printer requiring thermal paper, the 4i is an impact printer.Designed for portability, encased in ABS plastic and drop-proof. Runs off rechargeable battery, car battery, or wall power. Serial input as well as IR. Seiko DPU-3445 4" width, thermal paper. Very nice printer, fast, but hard to find. Serial input as well as IR. SiPix Pocket Printer A6 4" width, thermal paper. Prints to sheets (4" x 6") or roll feed paper. Slow printing (compared to the Seiko and Citizen), but also very inexpensive. Serial input as well as IR. Still available but discontinued. NOT compatible with Palm Zire 71. Zebra P2222, P2242, PA400, PT400, Encore series, Cameo Series (also Extron XPort) IR is optional on these. Rugged portable printers. Note that the PA400/PT400 printers are barcode label printers only, compatible with our Handy Label software, but NOT suitable for receipt or other general printing and hence not suitable for use with Take An Order software.

Bluetooth Printers

Printer Comments 8 1/2" x 11" Printers Pentax PocketJet 3 with Bluetooth Very small and light, battery operated. Requires thermal paper, available either in sheets (8 1/2 x 11") or as in rolls with an optional roll feeder for dashboard mounting. Hewlett Packard DeskJet 995c Bluetooth standard Hewlett Packard DeskJet 450cbi Battery powered. Bluetooth optional Smaller Width Printers Extech 3500 4" wide thermal printer. Bluetooth optional.

Serial Printers

Printer Comments 8 1/2" x 11" Printers Epson LX-300 Impact printer, allows up to 4-ply paper for multiple copies. Requires "computer paper" (the kind with perforated holes along the sides). Discontinued? Hewlett Packard DeskWriter 310 Reported to us to work with a Palm "MacPac" cable inserted into the AppleTalk port of the printer. Hewlett Packard 855C Reported to us to work with a Palm "MacPac" cable inserted into the AppleTalk port of the printer. Smaller Width Printers Datamax E-3202 3" wide thermal printer. Not portable and has a very heavy power converter, but extremely fast and high quality printing makes this great for trade show receipts. Special cable with a Palm-type (Palm III or VII) connector on one end and an RJ15 connector on the other available from Datamax. Newer E-class printers from Datamax have not been tested, but should all be similarly compatible given appropriate cabling. Monarch/Paxar 6015/6017 2" width (6015)/3" width (6017) thermal printer requiring thermal paper. Runs off rechargeable batteries. Palm (Palm III, VII, or SPT1500/1550) slides into the printer (see picture above) forming a very convenient handheld unit. 6017 (not pictured) mates with the Symbol SPT17xx/SPT18xx. Great for portability. Monarch/Paxar 9460 (Sierra Sport 2) 2" wide portable, robust barcode label printer. Zebra TR-220 Mates with the Symbol SPT1700/1800. 2" wide paper, combines a "trigger" for the scanner with a printer, suitable for both label stock or thermal receipt paper.

Parallel Printers

Most desktop printers on the market require parallel input, so you need either a serial-to-paralell or infrared-to-parallel adapter. To learn more you can read our complete discussion of connectivity issues. Note that printers with bidirectional parallel ports are in general NOT compatible with the serial-to-parallel adapters, but are compatible with the infrared-to-parallel adapters.